Hot statehouse races ... so far

Feb. 2, 2014

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Already, Southwest Ohio’s 2014 Statehouse elections feature a candidate planning to run during his trial for fraud, two former state representatives fighting to return to Columbus, a heated Democratic primary where race has already become an issue, and a scramble by Republicans trying to win back the area’s only contested seat.

And that’s all before Wednesday’s deadline for candidates to file the signatures required to place their names on the ballot.

For candidates for the General Assembly, the race is a sprint to the May 6 primary. Districts drawn in 2011 to favor one party – and maximize Republican control – ensure that the winners of most primaries will waltz to victory in November.

But November holds the promise of at least one exciting Statehouse race in Southwest Ohio: In 2012, only 17 of the 99 Statehouse races were decided by fewer than 10 percentage points. One was in a Republican-leaning district in northern Hamilton County, where a Democrat has won two straight elections – and the seat has no incumbent this year.

Here are six General Assembly primaries to watch in 2014:

28th House District,

Hamilton Co., GOP primary / contested general election

In 2012, this Statehouse race drew the most votes of any Ohio House race, as Rep. Connie Pillich, D-Montgomery, won the Republican-leaning district over tea partier Mike Wilson, R-Springfield Township. The two had faced off in 2010, with Pillich winning by only 600 votes, and Republicans had responded by redrawing the district in their favor.

The new district proved little trouble for Pillich in 2012, but now that she’s running for Ohio treasurer, Republicans are circling to pounce. They currently hold a one vote supermajority in the House. That enables the caucus, if it is unified, to override any vetoes by Gov. John Kasich and put constitutional amendments directly on the ballot without spending money to gather signatures around the state.

Winning the 28th district would give the party a cushion for the supermajority in case it loses one of a handful of other contested districts.

“What Connie Pillich’s presence on the statewide ticket has done for us is given us an opportunity to win that House seat back, which we almost certainly will in 2014,” state GOP chairman Matt Borges told reporters last week.

Not if Democrats have anything to say about it. They’ve rallied behind Blue Ash’s Micah Kamrass, the son of well-connected Rabbi Lewis Kamrass of Isaac Wise Temple in Amberley Village, who’s in his final semester at Ohio State’s law school.

As an undergraduate, Kamrass served as student body president of Ohio State University – where, he says, his more than 40,000 constituents outnumbered those of any opponents. He is currently a law clerk for Manley Burke, the Cincinnati law firm of Hamilton County Democratic Party Chairman Tim Burke.

In 2013, Kamrass’ campaign raised more than $87,000 – among Democratic House candidates, second only to former Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Dave Leland. After expenditures, he has $81,000 on hand – more than all but 10 candidates, including Republicans, for any seat in the House or Senate.

And he won’t need to spend it on a primary.

Republicans, on the other hand, are gearing up for a three-way race.

Rick Bryan, Blue Ash city councilman and former mayor, is the only candidate to have served elected office. He’s a U.S. Army veteran and a former executive with Procter & Gamble, Totes, the Andrew Jergens Co. and the Cancer Support Community.

A second candidate, Madeira’s Jonathan Dever, owns a law firm in West Chester. He says he’s never been involved with the tea party, but on Monday he expects to receive the endorsement of Wilson, Pillich’s former opponent, and Tom Weidman, a Sycamore Township trustee. Dever is vice president of the Blue Chip Young Republicans.

Forest Park’s Angel Clark rounds out the GOP field. She is GOP ward chairwoman for Forest Park and president of the Springfield Township Republican Club. She oversees accounting and human resources for T.R. Gear Landscaping, where she says she deals with health care laws and workers’ compensation issues.

9th Senate District, Hamilton Co., Democratic primary

Term limits have rendered state Sen. Eric Kearney, D-North Avondale, ineligible to run for another term. The Democratic race to replace him is shaping up to be the most crowded of any Southwest Ohio primary.

The latest member of the Mallory family to serve in the General Assembly, West End state Rep. Dale Mallory, says his eight years in the Statehouse have given him the experience required to succeed in the Republican-controlled Senate. In the House, Mallory has cosponsored bills with Republicans, sometimes with little Democratic support.

“I’ve passed legislation through a Democratic-controlled House and a Republican-controlled House,” Mallory said. “It just goes to show that I know how to work across the aisle and stick with our Democratic principles.”

Mount Auburn dentist Paul Sohi is the only other candidate to have filed petitions yet for the race. Sohi moved into the district last spring from Madeira but practiced in the area. He says he wants to represent the community he has served as a dentist and use his medical experience to help guide policy related to the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid expansion.

“I don’t want any of the citizens in my district shortchanged in this (Medicaid) expansion,” he said. “I’m not a career politician, but I’m going to be a fresh face. People are calling me the underdog, but you will see.”

With four days until the filing deadline, other likely candidates include Mount Auburn’s Catherine Ingram, a former Cincinnati school board member, and Bond Hill’s Angela Beamon, who finished third-to-last in November’s election for City Council.

Former City Councilman Cecil Thomas, D-North Avondale, also plans to run. Since leaving council in April, he’s been noted as a supporter of indicted Hamilton County Juvenile Judge Tracie Hunter. “Judge Hunter was fighting for the children,” Thomas said. “You don’t turn your back on somebody when allegations are made.”

32nd House District, Hamilton Co., Democratic primary

With Dale Mallory term-limited, Democrats were lining up to fill his House seat.

After the Hamilton County Democratic Party endorsed Northside attorneyChristie Bryant on Monday, howeverm the race appears to have dwindled from five to two: Bryant and Camp Washington community activist Bentley Davis.

The Democrats endorsed Bryant after a sometimes-heated debate, in which former Cincinnati council candidate Michelle Dillingham suggested Bryant received the endorsement only because she is an African-American. Davis is white.

“I take personal affront,” county Democratic Chairman Tim Burke said. It’s important for the majority-black House district to be represented by an African-American, Burke said. But he also said Bryant was the most qualified. She is field representative for a teachers’ union and has served on the City Planning Commission and the African-American Chamber of Commerce.

Davis had asked the county party to be both “both big-D and little-D Democrats” and not endorse a candidate. Davis is state director of the Alliance for Retired Americans.

51st House District, Butler Co., GOP primary

Two years ago, a mistake on a petition and a series of controversial rulings kept then-state Rep. Greg Jolivette, R-Hamilton, off the ballot for re-election. Mortician’s assistant Wes Retherford, R-Hamilton, won his seat and has the incumbent’s advantage against the more-experienced Jolivette in this year’s election.

As the incumbent, Retherford will receive the backing of campaign operatives and finances from the Ohio House Republican caucus’ re-election organization. He also has the endorsement of the Butler County Republican Party. In his re-election, he plans to tout his votes in favor of the state budget’s 10 percent income tax cut and his sponsorship of a bill intended to help veterans returning to the job market. Kasich signed that bill into law in November.

“I have a very good record that I can run on, just in a little over a year,” Retherford said.

Jolivette says he has better name recognition and has never lost an election in the district.

“I’m maybe a favored underdog,” he said.

In this race, he wants to emphasize his desire to restore cuts in state money to local governments.

The Republican race will also include former Fairfield Board of Education member Arnold Engel, who has run unsuccessfully for the Statehouse multiple times, including as a Democrat and an independent.

54th House District, Butler and Warren counties, GOP primary

State Rep. Pete Beck, R-Mason, is running for re-election in May, despite his indictment this summer on 16 felony counts for his alleged role in fraudulent business dealings. His trial is scheduled to start April 7, a month before the primary. Beck’s attorney, Ralph Kohnen, has said he does not expect the date to change.

Political activist Mary Jo Kubicki, R-Deerfield Township, is taking him on, with endorsements that already include state Rep. Ron Maag, R-Salem Township, several Warren County elected officials and a few local mayors. Kubicki is the niece of developer and GOP donor Chuck Kubicki and cousin of Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Charles Kubicki Jr. She is controller at ECU Corp., a family company that manufactures heating and air-conditioning components.

Beck has stayed in office despite calls for his resignation. As a Republican running for re-election, he’ll have the support of campaign operatives and finances from the Ohio House Republican caucus’ re-election organization.

He is a former Mason mayor and city council member.

His fraud charges are related to his role in a West Chester startup company called Christopher Technologies.

Kubicki was eCampaign coordinator for Kasich’s 2010 campaign and Warren County co-chairwoman for 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney. She has served as co-chairwoman of the Ohio Young Republicans.

Bonus: Maag’s support of Kubicki may have drawn a primary challenger. Former Beck campaign operative David Craig, R-Maineville, has filed petitions to challenge Maag in the race for Warren County’s 62nd Ohio House district.

27th House District, Hamilton Co., GOP primary

“I didn’t have issues last time. I have them now,” Brinkman said. For instance, he says Stautberg’s votes to raise sales taxes and eliminate the property-tax rollback for upcoming senior citizens were “sugarcoated” by the 10 percent income tax cut in the budget.

Brinkman also said he thinks Stautberg doesn’t spend enough time listening to community members.

But Stautberg has been a prominent committee chairman in his time in Columbus and will have the support of money and campaign operatives from the House Republican caucus’ re-election committee.

“I think that once we run through this election cycle, people will look at my record at passing bills that matter to this community,” Stautberg said. “Tom did not accomplish anything much in his eight years in Columbus.”

As for his vote on the state budget’s tax changes, Stautberg said: “We’re working on reducing the income tax, and as part of that overall package we did increase the sales tax. On balance, more people are definitely going to keep more money in their pockets.” ■